The grant will be used solely to fund travel, registration, and subsistence for participants in the Gordon Research Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization to be held July 31 - August 4, 1989 at Tilton School in New Hampshire. Participants involved in investigational techniques germane to epithelial differentiation and keratinization will be invited. Invitation will not be limited to investigators working on epithelia. Investigators dedicated to biology and pharmacology of epithelial differentiation will be exposed to state-of-the-art concepts, investigative techniques and their interpretation. Conversely, investigators from other areas will be exposed to the biological problems of epithelial differentiation. It is hoped that this blending of scientists and disciplines will yield novel insights for research in this area. Nine major themes will be developed and discussed during the meeting. the meeting is arranged in a sequence beginning with molecular topics including gene regulation and signalling systems, progressing to reports on differentiation products themselves, and followed by presentations on the mechanisms of action of modifiers of differentiation. The final session will be dedicated to clinical correlations to basic science information, reflecting the application of data and techniques from earlier sessions to analyzing the underlying pathogenesis of cutaneous diseases. In addition to formal presentations and poster discussion sessions, there is ample opportunity for discussion and informal poster presentations. The themes and the overall organization of the meeting are as follows: 1. Regulation of expression and function of intermediate filament proteins. 2. Extracellular Ca 2+ and the regulation of epithelial differentiation. 3. Extracellular matrix, cell-cell communication and differentiation. 4. The cell surface and epithelial differentiation. 5. Post-translational modification of differentiation products. 6. Lipids: Structural and signalling properties. 7. Mechanisms of action of modifiers of differentiation. 8. Morphogenesis and differentiation of hair follicles. 9. Clinical correlates to basic science: Molecular mechanisms of cutaneous diseases.